If You've Got Trouble
by yeahwhatok15
Summary: Clare and Adam are both going through a rough time, maybe eachothers company is all they need. Adam troubles himself with his brother Drew's mess with the cops, and Clare is dealing with Eli's complicated ways. Will this work out?
1. Chapter 1

[AN:] This is my first fanfiction...but I'd say its an ok start. This story takes place most recently: After Adam's brother has gone to the police about the accidental murder.

Chapter 1

"We'll be ok" Drew murmured into Bianca's ear. Bianca just looked at Drew for a long moment, and then buried her head in his chest. She was just about to leave the house. They were standing at the doorway, giving eachother a long embrace.

Adam sat on the couch, trying to drown out everything with his video games. Although the gun shots in the game didn't help his cause much. He was half listening to Drew and Bianca's conversation, begging his body not to break down over the situation. He could make out certain words from their conversation, "love", "police", "vince". He turned around to look at them, he saw Bianca's makeup running down her face, bleeding onto Drew's shirt. And Adam could see the tears welling in Drew's eyes, but he was holding them back as best as he could. Adam quickly turned back to the TV, knowing that if he kept watching, he would be doing the same thing.

As much as he hated Bianca, no one deserved to be raped. Or at least in the midst of someone trying to.

He was on his mom's side about Drew dating Bianca, that she brought history with her, that Drew need's to be careful because of her. But even so, he tried to support them, and the trouble they had gotten themselves into.

Adam looked at his watch, about twenty-three minutes since he last looked back at them at the doorway. He turned around, and saw they were still murmuring to eachother. They seemed to be easing up a bit, but the fear was still apparent in their faces.

He heard a final sigh, "I love you, ok?" Drew said to Bianca. He grasped her shoulders, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"I love you too." Bianca sniffled, they gave one more kiss, and then Bianca left. Drew shut the door behind her, put his hands over his face, then pushed them through his hair, letting out a big huff of breath. He stood for a moment, then walked over to the couch, and plopped down next to Adam.

Silence. Neither of them spoke a single word to eachother. Adam continued shooting bad guys, and Drew sat still beside him, eyes and face red.

Adam glanced over at him. His palm was over his forehead, and he was looking at the TV with glazed-over eyes. He was leaning back on the couch, looking as though he would fall asleep.

Adam paused the game, "Drew..." Adam finally said.

"I don't want to talk about it, Adam." Drew snapped at him, not removing his eyes from the TV.

Adam pursed his lips, and stared at his paused game for a moment.

He looked at Drew again, "listen,"

Drew was just about to cut him off, but he quickly put , "I know you don't want to listen to me right now, but you can't coop up your feelings forever. If you need someone...im here for you, big bro." He said.

Drew looked at him, then gave a half-smile. "I know" he said in a hoarse voice. He let out a sigh, and looked again to the TV, the game was still paused.

Adam let out a sigh, and went off to unplug the Xbox. He switched the TV back to cable, and started to walk up the stairs, leaving Drew on the couch. As he was about to go up, he looked to the back of Drew's head

"I don't expect you to spill your guts to me," Adam said to the back of Drew's head, "but when you're ready...you know I'm here for you, Drew."

He stood for another moment, and then walked back up to his room. He walked past his mom on the way up.

"Is he ok?..." she whispered to him. Adam could tell she was extremely worried about him. She was wringing her hands, and she looked as though she hadn't slept in a week.

He looked back to Drew, who was now pulling a blanket over himself, sprawled out on the couch.

"He'll be ok in time..." Adam said, and he gave his mother a reassuring smile. She smiled back, and continued down the stairs.

Adam knew that if he let himself, he would end up just like her. Looking like he hadn't slept in a month, wringing his hands, full of worry...he didn't want that. All he ever did since the accident was play video games and make calls to friends occassionally. Although, the only people he could call lately was Clare and Eli. Actually, they were calling him more than he was calling them. They were still going through a lot after the break-up, and Adam became the middle-man. Even though Eli had been taking anxiety pills, he still needed someone to talk to. He didn't lose ALL his emotion. And Clare, ofcourse, wanted to rant 24-7 about Eli. Adam had gotten used to it, as she had started calling almost every night since the break-up. Although it didn't seem to relieve her, seeing as she had a huge outburst towards Eli at Above the Dot.

Adam sat down on his bed when he reached his room. He laid on his back, just staring at the ceiling. He tried to find patterns in the dots and crevices in it. He was trying his hardest to not think too much about what was going on. He bit his lip, and jumped up to look for his iPod. He shuffled through his drawer, only finding a pair of headphones. He growled to himself, "c'mon" he said under his breath.

He backed up for a moment and closed his eyes, "ok, where could I have left it..." he said in his mind. He stood there in the quiet, thinking of where he'd been, and where he could've left it. It was so quiet in his room, you could've heard a gnat flying around. His breathing started to slow, and his mind started to wander, and for the first time in a while, he was just inside his own mind, peace and quiet all around him, he could finally relax for a second. Then...

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_

Adam nearly jumped out of his skin. "What?" He said, aggitated.

His mom walked in, still looking sleep deprived. "Someone's here to see you" she said, forcing a smile afterwards.

Adam looked confused. He glanced at his watch, "It's almost eleven, who would be here this late?"

His mom just shrugged, and closed the door as she left his room. He stood for a moment, thinking of who it could be.

"Maybe it's Eli?..." he thought to himself. But why would he be there that late? Adam just shook his head, and walked over to his mirror. He fixed his hair a little bit, straightened out his clothes, gave a cheesy point-and-wink, and walked down the stairs. He traced lines in the wood on the handrail as he went down.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, and looked up.

"Clare?" he said, half smiling, "what are you doing here at this time of night?"

Clare stood there, still at the doorway. She faked a smile for his mom.

Adam's mom stood for a moment, then hurridly said, "sorry, I'll leave you two alone." and went off to the kitchen. They could tell she was just mixing around pots and pans to make it sound like she was busy.

They looked at eachother, Adam still waiting for an answer. He raised his eye brow, and leaned on the wall.

"Uhm..." Clare started, "can we go up to your room for a second?"

Adam chuckled, "what for, may I ask?"

"I just want to talk to you for a second. Please?" she crossed her arms, and looked at the floor.

He looked at her for a second, then moved off the wall, and walked towards the stairs. "After you" he said, gesturing to the stairs and smiling. Clare grabbed his hand, and made him hurry up the stairs with her.

"Clare...are you ok?" Adam said as Clare dragged him through the door. She let go of him when they reached his room, and she turned around and shut the door. She faced adam, and threw her arms up in the air, "I just dont know anymore, Adam." She said. She brought her hands back down on her hips. Then she started pacing the room.

"What do you mean?" Adam said, stepping closer to her. He was becoming more concerned as the minutes went by.

She paused for a moment. Then she blurted, "Eli. I mean, I just...I don't know, I don't know whats going on anymore."

Adam rolled his eyes, "this again?" he said, sitting on his bed. He crossed his arms and looked up at her with tired eyes.

"Please take this seriously, Adam," Clare begged. She went over and sat on the bed with him. She put her hands in her lap, and sighed.

"...I'm sorry," Adam said, "its just...ever since you guys broke up, you guys are calling me non stop, and its always the same thing. I don't know, maybe its Eli's house you should be going to, try to work things out." He looked at Clare, her eyes were still on the floor.

"I just need, you know, closure or something..." she said. She looked at the floor for another moment, and then looked at Adam. "I don't know what to do, I mean theres no one else I can really go to right now. Alli is just...well, you never know with her, Jenna has to deal with the baby, Eli and I are going through a little rough spot...Darcy is still in Africa, my mom and dad are going through a divorce..."

Clare started to fade. She moved a bit of hair out of her face, and started to look around the room.

"You're not the only one dealing with things, Clare..." Adam said quietly. He looked at Clare until she looked up from the floor and into his eyes.

Her eyes wandered away for a moment. Then she closed them and shook her head, "I...I'm sorry, Adam," Clare said, scooting closer to him, "what kind of stuff are you going through? I didn't even bother to ask." She tilted her head and looked at Adams eyes, he was now looking at his hands, and twiddling his thumbs.

Adam looked at her, "I already told you, you remember...the thing with Drew..." He pursed his lips, and looked back at his hands.

"Oh...I forgot about that. Im sorry, Adam. I guess thats a little bigger than my problems, huh?" She said with a short laugh. She looked at his face, trying to study what he was feeling. Then, she put her cheek on his shoulder.

"It'll be ok...," she said. She grabbed his hand and started playing with his fingers, "I know it".

Adam became confused for a second, he looked down at clares head. He felt her hands on his, and stared at them for a second. A crooked smile appeared on his face, and he laid his head on top of Clare's. They sat on the bed, not saying a word, just enjoying the others company. Clare started to smile too, she stopped playing with his fingers, and just grabbed his hand tight in hers.

After about a minute, Clare looked up at Adam. They looked into eachothers eyes, both frozen. Adam chuckled a bit, and moved closer to Clare.

"So" Adam started, then, suddenly, Clare pushed her lips against Adams. Adam's eye brows raised as high as they could go, and his heart jumped into his throat. Clare kept her lips there, grabbing Adam's shirt, pulling him closer.

Adam mumbled a little, but it wasn't enough to break Clare away. Clare moved her hand to Adam's jawline, holding and tracing it.

Her hands were cold from the walk there, and made Adam shiver. Clare giggled, and looked into his eyes again. He still couldn't believe what was going on. Then, her eyes darted back to his lips, and back to kissing they went. No mumbling this time.

After the first few seconds, Adam started to relax, and started to ease into the kiss. Adam put his hand on Clare's hip, and started to let go of everything around him. To him, it was only him and Clare in the world right then. He didn't stop to think about what would happen afterwards, he was only interested in what was going on in that exact moment. He hadn't felt anything like that since he was with Fiona, and it was a feeling he missed a lot.

Adam leaned back on the bed, bringing Clare with him. Adam's head was on the pillow, and Clare was on top of him, she didn't seem to care what they did either. Adam started to take Clare's jacket off, and she helped him. "Is she really doing this?" he thought to himself as he tossed her jacket to the floor.

He pulled her away from his lips for a moment to look at her.

Adam looked into Clare's baby blue eyes, not saying a word. "What?" she giggled. Adam looked at her up and down, almost forgetting why he even pulled her away.

"Its nothing," he said, quickly pulling her back. He could feel her smiling as they kissed.

Clare started to move her hand under Adam's shirt, he could once again feel her cool hands going up his stomach. Suddenly, she stopped. Right at his ribs. He opened his eyes to see why, and there was the reason.

Drew was standing at the doorway, he had opened the door without them knowing, and had been watching for who knows how long. His jaw was on the floor.

Clare quickly jumped off Adam. She wiped her lips, and pushed all the hair out of her face. She couldn't look Adam in the eye.

She picked up her jacket and walked to the doorway. She turned around, still not looking at Adam, "I'll talk to you later," she said under her breath. She pushed past Drew, who's eyes were like saucers. Adam was sitting up on the bed now, watching her as she hurridly left his house. His eyes were wide open, looking back from the doorway to Drew.

Drew looked at Adam, and let out a small snicker. He put one hand over his mouth, and one on his hip. "Adam Torres," he said in a mocking voice.

"Shut Up," Adam said, fixing his hair. He stood up and crossed his arms.

"You didn't tell me you were such a lady killer," Drew laughed.

"Im thrilled youre showing emotion again, but could you _please _get out of my room?" Adam said, shoving Drew through the doorway, and locking it once he was out. He could hear Drew laughing through the door.

As Drew was walking back to his room, he bumped into his mom.

"What?" she said, smiling.

Drew hesitated, and looked from the stairs to Adam's room. "Absolutely nothing," Drew said, smiling. He shook his head and kept on laughing as he walked to his room. His mom gave a funny look, but she shrugged it off and went to bed as well.

Adam cupped his hands over his face, and was leaning against the door. He let out a huge sigh. He looked at his bed, just thinking back to a few seconds ago. What was up with Clare? She had never seemed so interested in him before...and then suddenly, shes making out with him? He didn't get it.

"School's gonna be a joy tomorrow," he said to himself sarcastically. He put his hand on his head, and stood in his room , thinking. He tried not to think about it too much, he had school tomorrow and needed to sleep. He quickly changed into his night clothes, and went to bed. But he certianly didn't sleep. He laid awake all night thinking about what had happened, and how Clare was going to act the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adam and Drew shared the mirror before school. Drew was rubbing gel through his hair, glancing over at Adam. He was fixing his hair, but his eyes were off into space, like he wasn't even there.

"Hellooo" Drew said, waving his hand in front of Adam's face.

Adam seemed to snap out of his funk, "huh?"

Drew just chuckled, and continued fixing his hair. "You need to snap out of it, dude. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not really..." Adam said, but Drew shrugged it off. Adam started fixing his hair again, but he went back to his spacey, glazed-over look. He couldn't get his mind off of the night before, and his stomach was turning, thinking about how he should act when he saw Clare at school. Should he pretend it never happened, or should he try to get close to Clare? He didn't know, he just wanted to get through the day

...

later that morning

...

"Be good, you two!" their mom shouted as they walked into the school. Adam was being cautious, looking around for Clare or Eli. Drew immediately found Bianca at his locker, and they embraced eachother. They seemed a bit more content than yesterday, which Adam was very happy about. He was worried that this would haunt Drew for a long time, but, even though he hated Bianca, he knew she made Drew happy, and that together they would make it.

First period passed; no Clare. Second period passed; no Clare. Adam didn't know wether he was relieved that he might not see her that day, or that he was let down that they couldn't talk things out.

Adam found Eli at lunch period, and they went to the lunch room together. Eli's personality had significantly changed since he crashed Morty, but he was still Eli. And Adam was certainly not the type of person to drop a friend very easily.

Adam was tempted to tell Eli about the Clare incident, I mean, he said himself his emotions were gone...what harm could it do, right? But even so, it still made Adam worry, so he held off on telling.

Eli was reluctant to let Adam help him with his books, what with his broken leg, but it wasn't hard for Adam to convince him. They walked to Eli's locker, and Adam turned around and said, "Hey Eli, whats your locker-"

Adam trailed off in mid-sentence. A couple lockers down from Eli's, he saw her. Clare was getting books out of her locker, and sprucing herself up in her small mirror.

"...combo." Adam finished. Eli got a confused look on his face, "whats up with you?"

"Nothing," Adam responded quickly. He glanced back over at Clare, but quickly put his eyes towards Eli, and smiled.

Eli raised his eyebrow, "if you say so." he said, leaning on his cane.

"Here, just let me see your books," Adam said, taking a book from Eli. He shoved it in his locker, but as he did, something caught his eye. He saw, not just Clare out of the corner of his eye, but another person coming up to her. He was getting fairly close...a little close for comfort.

Adam looked over without Eli seeing, and saw a tall, brown haired guy talking to Clare. He had never seen him around Degrassi before...how did he know Clare? He was only about a foot away from Clare's face, and inching closer. He leaned his hand on the locker behind her, and they both smiled.

Adam's lips tightened. He looked down for a moment, not sure what to do. Then, he threw the book he was holding into Eli's locker, and started walking towards Clare. He looked to Eli, "Hold on a sec."

Without a choice, Eli stood there by himself, "Uh...err...alright." Eli stammered, still holding 2 books.

Adam walked straight up to Clare and the new guy, they were still giggling to eachother. "Hey Clare!" he blurted, interrupting whatever conversation they were having. Clare's eyes opened wide when she saw him. Jake looked at her, confused by her seemingly shocked reaction to Adam.

"Friend of yours?" Jake said. He smiled to Adam. Adam gave a fake one back.

"Uh...Yeah..." Clare said slowly. "Jake...this is...uhm..."

"I'm Adam." he interrupted. He stepped closer to Clare, and looked up at the boy, "and you're Jake, huh?"

He smiled. "Sure am. Im new here, mind showing me around?" He took a big bite out of a breakfast bar, and looked at all the hallways and doors.

Adam was put off by his kindness, "Im actually busy, sorry..." he said with one eye brow raised. He looked back to Clare and had a small smile, "So Clare, do you think we could talk for a second?"

Clare looked to Jake, who was still oblivious to everything. "Maybe later...I'll call you or something after school, ok?"

Adams heart broke. Was Clare embarrassed of him? Clare gave a half smile, and walked away with Jake. As they walked away, Adam stood there, speechless. And he still didn't even find out how they knew eachother.

"Uhmm...i still exist over here." Eli said, still standing with his two books.

Adam ran back over to him, "Sorry, sorry!" he said. He quickly grabbed his books and shoved them in Eli's locker, then slammed it shut.

"So..." Eli started, as he hobbled on his cane with Adam down the hallway, "what was that all about?"

"What was what about?" Adam said.

Eli gave him a look, "you honestly don't know?"

Adam sighed, "It was nothing. Don't worry about it. Clare is just being really...dramatic lately."

"If it's alright with you, Clare is the last thing I wanna talk about right now." Eli said.

Adam laughed, "Fine by me." They continued down the hall.

Adam saw Jake's face in one of the classroom windows. Adam walked by, and Jake turned around before Adam passed. They looked at eachother for a long moment, as if to say "it's on".

Adam had no idea what he was getting himself into.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"...and congratulations to our cheerleading squad for bringing home yet another trophy! Good job out there, girls," Mr. Simpson said over the intercom. The girls in the cafeteria were high fiving and laughing with eachother.

"Nobody cares," Adam said under his breathe. He scribbled in his notebook, hurridly finishing homework from the day before.

Eli was sitting next to him. He put his hand over Adam's notebook so he would look at him.

"Whats up with you today?" he said, "You've been like this all morning."

Adam hesitated, "School stuff is just getting...hard to handle."

"I know, man," Eli consoled, "I've been really caught up with the play lately, myself. I just can't get the things in my head to the paper, its crazy, its never happened to me before."

Just as he said that, Imogen came up behind him. " and I can help you with that, Eli Goldsworthy." She said, smiling. Then she walked away into the crowd of people.

Adam raised an eyebrow, and stared at Eli. "And that was...?"

_RING! _

All the students scrambled towards their lockers for homeroom.

Eli looked to Adam as he picked up his books, and smirked, "my new muse. For the play."

Adam gave a short laugh, "Well...have fun with her." They both laughed, and walked down the hall to their lockers.

As soon as Adam finished helping Eli with his books, he went to the radio room, where he was greeted by Sav.

"You ready for Mano e Mano?" Sav said, removing his headphones.

"Sure," Adam said, faking a smile. He sat down in his chair, and waited for Dave.

"You dont seem that excited," Sav said. He started turning knobs and pressing buttons on the control panel.

Adam didn't respond. He stared at his microphone for a long moment, and then quickl turned his chair towards Sav, "Sav, your popular with the ladies, right?"

Sav laughed, "Uhm...I..guess? Why?"

"Do you think I could get some advice?" Adam said.

"Well I dont know if I'm the one to be-"

"Ok, well," Adam interrupted, "theres this girl...shes really pretty..."

"Sounds like a winner," Sav said sarcastically. Adam laughed, and continued.

"so um...the night before last, this girl gave me some...pretty strong hints that she likes me."

"What, like she smiled at you or something?"

Adam looked at the floor, "Well, it was just a bit more than that..."

"She held your hand? I dont know, dude, tell me." he laughed.

Adam looked at him, and then his eyes wandered around the room, "She came to my house, crying about one of her exes...and then thats when things sort of went out of hand."

Sav's eyes widened, "You didn't..."

"Almost," Adam said. Then he laughed, "and then my brother walked in...then she left, and we haven't exactly discussed it since."

"Wow," Sav said, laughing along with Adam, "Ummm...maybe she's just embarrassed that your brother saw you two? I dont know, just give her time to talk about it."

"That's the thing," Adam said, " I already saw her flirting with another guy." He sighed. "I dont want to lose her because...well I really like her."

Sav scooted over on his chair, and put his hand on Adam's shoulder, "All I can say is welcome to high school. You're gonna have a lot of heartbreaks. I know, I've been through it." He smiled. "All I can say is that, if you really, really like this girl, go after her."

Then, Dave walked in. "Sorry I'm late, slept in," he threw his backpack on the floor, "We ready to go?" he said, clapping his hands.

Sav and Adam both moved back to their places. "Yeah, we're on in about 3 minutes," Sav said.

Dave and Adam did their handshake, "Hey man, you ready?" Dave said.

"I was born ready." Adam said, condescending Dave. They both laughed, then put on their headphones. Adam leaned back in his chair, and put himself deep into thought about what Sav said.

_"...if you really, really like this girl, go after her."_

Adam smiled to himself. "I'll take that challenge," he said in his head.

Dave punched Adam in the shoulder playfully, "don't embarrass yourself today, man."

Adam laughed, "As long as you promise to do the same."

Sav smiled at them, "Ok you guys, 20 seconds till we're live." He put his headphones back on, and Dave and Adam did the same. They looked over the papers they had, were various ideas were scribbled down.

"3...2...1..." Sav counted down, "and we're live."

...

After the show, Eli was at the door, ready to congratulate Adam.

Adam and Dave said their goodbyes to the listeners, and to eachother, and left the studio. Adam walked over to Eli, who was leaning on his cane on his elbow. He started clapping, "Bravo," he said to Adam.

"Aw, it was nothing," Adam said sarcastically.

Eli smiled, "That banter was gold, just throwing that out there."

He smiled, "Thanks. You know, I wasn't going to use that material at first, but then I just-"

Adam stopped.

"...What?" Eli said, confused. He saw Adam staring over his shoulder, and hobbled around to see what he was staring at.

Clare was coming their way, memo pad and pen in hand.

"Uhm..I..." Adam stammered.

"Don't worry," Eli said, "I'll make the interview quick. I know you're tired of the tension between me and her."

"Yeah...ok, yeah. Let me know when it's over." Adam said, glad Eli didn't know the _real _reason he was panicking.

Clare slowly walked up to Adam and Eli, a fake smile on her face. "Are you ready for the interview?" she said to Eli. She glanced over at Adam for a long moment while Eli was answering.

"Sure, let's go." Eli said. He gestured towards the lunch table.

They sat down, and Clare touched her pen to her tongue, ready to go.

Eli looked up at Adam, still standing there, looking at Clare.

"...don't you have to get to first block, Adam?" Eli said. He looked up at Adam, confused. Clare bit her lip.

Adam snapped out of his daze, "yeah, yeah, sorry." He picked up his things, gave them both one last smile, and headed down the hallway.

He started wakling...but then he stopped for a moment. He hesitated, then he went back to the table Eli and Clare were at.

They looked up at him, both confused as to why he was still there.

"Uhhh," Eli started.

"Can I talk to Clare for a sec?" Adam said. Eli raised an eyebrow, hesitant. "Sure...I'll be here." He said, intertwining his fingers.

Clare slowly got up, leaving her pen and pad on the table. She followed Adam to an empty hallway, not too far from where Eli was sitting, but far enough away so that he couldn't hear what they were saying.

"What?" Clare whispered.

Adam was silent for another moment. "...are we going to talk about the other night?"

Clare's face got red, "what is there to talk about?"

"Clare," Adam started, "you obviously know what I'm talking about...you were there..." he said, letting out a short laugh.

Clare smiled, but it quickly disappeared, "It was just an...in the moment thing." she said, looking down at the floor.

"But does this mean..." Adam said, trailing off. He held her hand in his, and smiled down at her. She returned the smile.

The smile quickly faded, from Clare's face, though, as she pulled her hand away. She looked down at her feet and starting wringing her hands.

Adam's smile faded as well. "So," he started, "were just going to up and forget what happened between us?"

Clare sighed, "Adam, your a great, amazing guy..."

"Does this have to do with that "Jake" guy?" Adam interrupted. His lips tightened as he looked into Clare's eyes, waiting for her answer. He crossed his arms, and shifted his weight to his other foot.

Clare's eyes widened for a short moment, and she blushed. "I don't even like him," she said. She couldn't look Adam in the eye when she said it.

"Clare," Adam said, knowing she was lying, "I saw the way you looked at him." He looked into her eyes when she lifted them up from the floor.

"I really like you." she said. Adams heart jumped, and an uncontrolable smile appeared on his face.

"Then prove it to me," he said, grabbing for her hands again. This time, she didn't pull away. "prove to me theres nothing going on with Jake."

They smiled at eachother, both of them had beaming eyes. Adam started to lean in to give Clare a kiss, but then suddenly she jerked away, and stood stiff as a board. Adam gave her a strange look. He was about to ask "what?", but another voice interrupted him.

"Hi Clare." Jake said, hands in his pockets as he walked towards them.

Adam crossed his arms, "ofcourse." he said.

"Did I do something?" Jake said to Adam, smiling and raising an eyebrow. Adam looked to Clare, disappointed.

"What is it, Jake?" Clare said.

"I need to see you for a second," Jake said, gesturing to the science room.

Clare giggled, but then looked to Adam, who was still looking betrayed. Her lips tightened as her eyes shot from Jake, to Adam, to the floor. She finally kept her eyes on Adam, and grabbed his hand, "I'll be right back," she said. She let go, and ran off down the hallway with Jake.

Adam could see Jake grabbing her hand just before they entered the classroom.

Adam's heart broke into a million pieces. "am I not as good as that Jake guy?" Adam thought to himself, leaning against the lockers. He moved his hands into his pockets, and dragged himself back to the table Eli was at.

"Didn't Clare wan't to do an interview?" Eli said, narrowing his eyes and smiling. He looked behind Adam, but saw nothing.

"One of the teachers needed her for a second," Adam lied. There was a crack in his voice, but Eli disregarded it.

Eli pulled himself up from the table, and onto his cane. "I guess I'll go back to class, then." he said. He patted Adam on the shoulder, "wish me luck. It's theater class." he said, smirking.

Adam let out a short laugh, "Break a leg."

Eli gave him a reassuring fist bump, and hobbled off into the hallways. Adam was left standing alone in the cafeteria.

He stood for a moment, and then turned back to the hallway Clare and Jake had gone down.

He started to shake his head.

"There's no way I'm letting it end like this." he said to himself. He picked up his things, and stormed off to his class.


	4. Chapter 4

**[AN: I'm REALLY sorry this chapter took so long to add. There's been things going on lately, but I finally started back on it. I hope you guys like it.]**

Chapter 4

"How was your day, you two?" Adam and Drew's mom asked as they climbed into the car. Drew jumped in the front passenger seat like always, and Adam climbed into the backseat.

They threw their things on the floor before answering. "Just like any other average day at Degrassi," Drew said from lack of any interesting school stories. His mom looked to Adam, "And you?" she asked. She turned back around and started driving.

"Fantastic." Adam said sarcastically. He leaned back in his seat and looked out the window.

Adam could see his mother's confused look in the rear view mirror. "You sure it was 'fantastic'?" His mother said, giving a skeptical smile.

"He's having girlfriend problems, mom." Drew said, purposely trying to rat out Adam.

"I don't have a girlfriend, stupid!" Adam said, flicking the back of Drew's head.

Their mom hesitated for a moment, then said "You have a girlfriend?" He couldn't tell if she was having a happy reaction, a disappointed reaction, or anything inbetween.

"I said I didn't," Adam said. His mom still looked skeptical. He watched her eyes as she pulled the turn down the road to their house.

She drove a little ways before she started talking. "Is it that girl that was at our house two days ago?" she said, squinting her eyes at Adam through the rear view again.

Adam's face turned blood red, "No, no!" he stammered, "Me and Clare are just friends. See what you did, Drew," Adam said shoving Drew's shoulder. Drew simply laughed, and kept facing forwards.

Adam's mom stopped talking, but he could tell she still didn't believe that he was telling the truth.

When they finally pulled up to the house, Adam went straight in, not waiting for his mom or Drew. He set his things down on the couch downstairs, and started to make his way up the stairs to his room, but he was stopped by Drew.

"Listen, I was just kidding," he said half smiling.

Adam gave a weak smile, "yeah" he said. Drew stood for a moment, but then disregarded the situation, and jumped onto the couch to watch his sports shows. Adam rolled his eyes, and walked up the stairs to his room.

Almost as soon as he hit the door, his phone started to vibrate on his bed. He threw his things in the corner, and hopped on the bed. He laid on his back, and picked up his phone to see who it was.

"Movie night. you going?"

It was a text from Clare.

Adam became skeptical immediately.

"Who will be there?" he texted back.

"you, jenna, alli...everyone" she texted. The dots afterward made Adam wonder even more. He pursed his lips, then wrote back.

"...& jake?"

The next text took a moment to receive.

"yea...but were NOT together adam" she texted. He laughed to himself, "sure." He laid his phone to his side for a moment, wondering what he should do. He really wanted to see Clare, but having Jake there could - no, WOULD - cause a lot of tension. He sighed, and brought his phone back up to his face. He traced the buttons with his fingers for a moment, still contemplating.

"what time?" he texted.

"tomorrow, 8!"

Adam gave a bit of a crooked smile, "see you there" he finally texted. He knew this wouldn't be a good idea, but he thought it was at least worth a shot. And if Clare was so denying of Jake, how much could she _really _care about him? He gave a smile at that thought.

Adam stared at the ceiling. He traced the patterns in it, just as he had the night Clare came over. His mind was racing, although it didn't show.

What should I wear?

Should I wear extra cologne?

How crowded will it be?

Will I have to 1 up Jake the whole time?

He had no clue. All he knew to do was think it out in a good old violent xbox game. He shoved his phone into his pocket, and, out of excitement, seemed to float down the stairs to the living room.

The next day

Adam bit his lip even harder. He stood at Clare's locker, waiting for her to put her things inside for lunch period. He looked around the whole hallway frantically, nervous to talk to her again. And hopefully this time, it would be one on one, he thought.

He was tapping his thumbs on his textbook when he saw Eli walking his way. Oh no, he thought, I can't have him here when Clare comes by...

Eli looked in worse shape than ever_. _He was always in the theater, planning this devious play of his. He seemed to get crazier and crazier as the days passed. He looked tired 24/7, and his hair was always in a bit of a tangle. His eyes had become crazy and out of place, and his emotions and expressions were so off key, Adam barely knew what he was on about most of the time.

"What're you waiting for?" Eli said to Adam. Adam hesitated.

"Looking out for Dave," he lied, "have you seen him around?"

"Yeah. But I thought you and Dave already did Mano e Mano this morning?" Eli said, confused.

"That doesn't mean we're not bros outside of the radio show!" Adam said awkwardly, and playfully punching Eli in the arm. Eli's eyes turned into slits, and he stared at Adam for a moment.

"You seem different today." Eli said. His voice didn't seem to change, although his face still seemed confused.

"It's just been an off day," Adam said. He put his book into one hand and shoved the other one into his pocket, trying to think of something else to talk about.

After looking at Eli for an extended time, Adam finally said "Maybe things seem off because you're not taking your meds." Eli had told him earlier that week that Imogen had helped him stop taking his pills.

"Adam, I already told you, I'm _better _because of that," Eli said, "my mind is finally clear. I can feel my emotions, I'm flowing with ideas for the play, Imogen was right to help me get off them."

"This isn't going to get you Clare back." Adam said, but he immediately regretted saying it. It slipped out, but there was no taking it back now. Eli's face twisted with anger suddenly, "I don't care about her." Eli said through clenched teeth. He looked down at his binder, in which was a poster for his play, "the play isn't even remotely about her."

Adam rolled his eyes, "because Clara is really original," he said in his head. He saw a figure out of the corner of his eye, a head peeking from around the corner.

"And I really don't think Imogen is the person to be giving medication advice"

Eli turned to see where Adam was looking, and sighed. He traced the words on his binder with his thumb. "She's helping me," he said quietly. His eyes looked so hollow and dark when he looked up to Adam, "just please don't worry about it. Im fine. Really," he said with a bit of a two-second forced smile. He shoved his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a small orange bottle, "and worst case scenario." he said, shaking the bottle.

Adam was somewhat relieved to see he hadn't thrown them away, but he was still worried about him.

"You'll see just how genius this plan is at the play, Adam. Just wait." Eli said, shoving the bottle back into his pocket. He looked to Imogen, still watching them from the corner. "I'll be on my way now. The play isn't going to write itself." he said. He patted Adam on the shoulder, and walked down the hall. Adam sighed, a bad feeling still in his gut.

**[this chapter isn't finished yet, but I figured since it took me so long to get this written, I'd at least publish this part. let me know what you guys think.]**


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